When I'm Gone
by Lillithrose
Summary: The ff7 group has seperated and Vincent is alone again. He runs into Yuffie and old friends can sometimes change your life. vinyuf & cloutif


Umm, yeah.  The story is 100% mine. Thank you!  Well, enjoy…wait, characters are owned by Square Soft. 

Now enjoy!!!

When I'm gone

Two years after the war and everyone should be happy…should be.  I am still cursed and my life should still be spent alone.  The curse laid upon me, no one will ever understand the pain it brings to me.  At times, I long to be with some one, long to escape from my loneliness…but I know that will never happen.  For all those of my past have left and are living somewhere now.  Barret is happy on his own, he never asks for visitors.  Cid left in his Highwind many years ago.  Cloud and Tifa finally admitted their love for one another and now live together.  She still runs the 7th Heaven…I visit sometimes.  Cait Sith has been stowed away and now Reeve is a well-known (might I add powerful) individual. Red XIII (It still seems strange to call him Nanaki) went back to Cosmo Cannon.  That leaves all but one…

                               Yuffie.                  

No one knows where she went.  She left only a few weeks after our mission was accomplished.  No one really seemed to care.  I think that's why she left so quickly.

That's why I live alone…I doubt anyone misses me.

Vincent walks in the darkness, covered from head to toe.  His red cloak flew behind him as the wind ripped at his long black hair.  His crimson eyes threatened anyone who came too close.  No one in the town knew him, and they were too afraid to talk to him.  Yet, the rumors flew as harsh as the wind.

"He's a vampire."

"He's out to kill someone."

"He's a nutcase!  A schitzo!"

Not that any of that mattered to Vincent.  He knew that he would be spending the rest of his god forsake life alone.  As the lonesome Vincent walked down a dark alleyway, a loud, angry voice reached his ears.

"Get back here!  Stop!  Thief!"  It was the local baker.  Everyday it seemed someone was stealing one of his new loaves of bread.  It was a surprise he didn't pack up and leave.  Everyone was very poor in this town though.  Perhaps that's another reason Vincent stuck out like a sore thumb.  Money was one thing Vincent did have...if only it could by happiness.

The rapping of feet reached Vincent's ears before he could see anything.  He stopped and tried to see who it was as the steps continued to crescendo; the person was obviously running toward him.  As the sound of deep breaths came to his ears, he saw the outline of a small, thin woman running toward him.  A split-second later, the woman had run smack dab into his chest and fell to the dirt-covered ground.  She landed with a loud 'oof.'

"Ow ow ow!"  The woman said, in a young teen voice. "Sorry 'bout that." She said while standing up, her back facing him and dusting herself off.  Vincent merely stood staring at her calmly.  He knew this voice…but where from?

"Hey!  I said sorry and you should accept my-!" The older teen turns to face him and gasps, almost dropping the warm loaf of bread.  Her brown hair was short and pulled back by a headband while the longer strands were wrapped up by green ribbon. She had on a simple green shirt and red mesh arm wraps.  Her tan shorts were unbuttoned and she had one red mesh leg wrap.  She had on knee high socks that were fallen around her ankles and orange shoes.

"Oh my gosh Vinnie!  You shouldn't sneak up on people like that."  She jokes.  "I've missed you so much!" She runs over to him and hugs him.  

Vincent looks down at her with a questioning glare, but places his golden claw over her slim shoulders.

"You know I hate that nick name Yuffie."  Vincent says, trying to sound somewhat cheerful.

"Ok, Mr. I'm-to-emo-to-say-hello.  How are you?"  Yuffie backs away and places her hand on her hips.  Vincent takes this time to look at the new Yuffie.  She looked the same, yet she looked different.  Her face has stayed the same, but she gained lady-like curves in all the right places.  He sighs then turns away.

"Fine."  He starts to walk away.  Yuffie picks up the little bag she dropped when she ran into him and hurried to catch up with him.

"Do you live around here?"  She questions innocently while taking a bite of her warm bread.  Vincent nods as he turns the corner.  Yuffie smiles while patting her stomach. "Ooo, I wanna see your place.  I bet it looks like something out of a vampire movie."  She giggles then takes another bite out of her bread.  Vincent stops walking and sighs.

"Yuffie?"  He questions.

"Hm?"  She questions through a mouthful of bread.

"Why are you following me?"  

"CUZ I MISSED YOU!  Geez, didn't know that was such a problem.  Guess you need permission to want to talk to a person you haven't seen in two years."  She starts to walk away.  Vincent grabs her arm and turns her back around.

"I didn't mean it like that..."  He pauses.  "I just wanted to know why you were following me.  You really didn't talk to me while we were on the mission.  So why now?"  He questions, releasing her from his grasp.  She crosses her arms and looks to the ground.

"You didn't talk to anybody.  You always said that you were cursed, that you just wanted to be alone."  She pauses, turning away again. "Plus, I don't know where anyone else is."  Vincent sighs.

"I'm sorry that I acted the way I did, but it's true.  I have sinned and I am cursed.  I only wanted everyone to be safe."  He sighs and crosses his arms in return.  Yuffie turns back around, a look of, something like pity, upon her face.  

"You know, " She starts, a mature tone setting in her voice for the first time since Vincent has known her.  "If you didn't focus on the past so much, and you looked into the future, you might be a happier person in the end."  

She starts walking away again, realizing that Vincent hadn't changed at all.  He was obviously still Mr. I-must-atone-for-my-sins and Mr. I-hate-myself-because-I'm-cursed...that meant that he would want to be alone still.

Vincent felt his blood boiling.  

How dare she say something like that!  It was his choice and his alone to live his life like this.  His fists tightened and he took several deep breaths.  No one else should have to deal with his pain.

"Well, maybe if you didn't act like such a child people wouldn't hate you as much either!"

Yuffie stopped dead in her tracks.  The bread she was holding was split in two as her fists tighten.  She begins taking deep breaths trying to rid herself of the tears preparing to flow over.  Vincent watches her, the anger in his eyes overflowing.  Yuffie takes two steps forward and turns around to face him.  Tears were daring to tip over her eyes and her lips were set in an angry line.

"I can't believe I missed you.  You were always so cold.  I don't know why I even 

cared."  She turns back around and starts to walk away, afraid that he would see her cry.  Vincent can't dare to walk toward her as his anger was replaced with sorrow.  He felt like hitting himself on the head with a hammer.  Why was he always so cold?  Couldn't he just forget about himself and think of others for once?  His thoughts were soon interrupted by a loud car horn followed by squealing tires and a raucous scream.

Vincent dashes toward the street, afraid of what he would see.  When he reaches the sight, a group of people has dashed out to the street and is circled around.  He hurries up and pushes his way through the crowd.  His eyes reach Yuffie lying on the ground.__

"Do you know her?"  Asks a local resident.  Vincent kneels down beside her and places his arm around her neck.  "Man, she didn't look and I couldn't stop that quick...I...I'm really sorry I didn't mean too-"  The man was nervous, the sight of the tall, dangerous looking man frightened him.  Vincent nodded then was gone.__

Yuffie awakes and looks around.  The last thing she remembered was bright lights coming toward her then pain.  Oh the pain she'd felt.  Then there was warmth,  it embraced her...then she went unconscious.

Tiredly, she stood from the bed.  Her eyes tried hard to focus, to see where she was, but they wouldn't cooperate, so she sat back down.

"Man, I took a hard fall down the wrong alley today."  Yuffie jokes then she touches her arm.  It was still scratched up pretty badly.  She sighs.  "I wonder who saved me."  Yuffie wonders allowed while scratching the tip of her ear.

"Maybe it was the man on the moon."  Says a deep voice from out of the shadows.  Yuffie looks around as everything went in and out of focus.  She could only see two glowing crimson eyes, but that was enough for her.  Coldly, she turns away.  Obviously, she hadn't forgot what happened earlier.

"What are you doing here?"  She pauses.  "And where'd the sudden humor come from?  I thought that you were Mr. Serious-atone-for-my-sins-cursed-man."  Yuffie looks back around to see him walking toward her.  He looks down at her, smiling a smile that only he knew was there.

"Who ever said serious people can't make jokes?"  Vincent asks while handing her a warm washcloth.  Yuffie stares at him questioningly.

"Why are you here?"  She reiterates.  Vincent stands back up as Yuffie takes the washcloth and washes her face with it.

"That was for your arm."

"Quit avoiding my question!"  She yells while placing the washcloth over her arm and gently rubbing it back and forth.

"This is my house."  He says while walking over to a small desk and opening a large book.

Yuffie looks around.  It was different than she had expected, not everything was black.  The curtains were dark gray and the carpet was a lighter shade of gray.  Surprisingly, the walls were an ancient off-white color, but the comforter was a deep midnight black.  She sighed, trying to force a laugh out.

"Different than I'd expected."  She says while focusing on the pictures hanging from the walls.  "I was expecting...black and red and a coffin and skeletons and-"

"I get the picture...now lay down and go back to sleep."

"Yes mother."  She lies back down.  "Geez, you never lighten up do you?"

"I haven't turned on the light yet, sorry."  Vincent sets down the book and looks over at her.

"Not like that you smart aleck."  She sighs.

"I realize."  He stands up and scoots the chair back toward the desk.  Yuffie watches him and stands up.

"Where are you going?" She questions, while pulling her hand to her mouth like a scared child.  Vincent turns back around and faces her.  He can see that she is frightened, so he sighs and faces the ground.

"I was going to go to bed."  He states.  Yuffie bites her thumb and nods.  She slowly walks back to her bed and throws the covers over her head.  Vincent walks out of the room closing the door behind him.__

He walks into his room; nearly identical to the one Yuffie was in.  It held the same gray curtains, the same gray carpet, and the same off-white walls.  Only the bed was different.  It had black poles sticking up from each of the corners.  It held up a shinning black cloth covering the every side of his bed.

Vincent makes down his bed and takes off his cloak.  He takes off his shirt, then starts to get into his bed but he stops midway under his blankets.  Slowly, he turns back around and walks out into the darkened hallway.  A sigh escapes his lips as he comes to the door he closed only minutes ago.  Quietly, he opens the door and steps inside.

Yuffie was sound asleep inside.  Vincent stepped up to the bed, to make sure she was ok.  Then he realized that he should have stayed with her until she had fallen to sleep.  Her arms were wrapped around her tightly.  The blankets were over her chin and she looked just like a little girl.  Vincent would have bent down and hugged her, if he hadn't been afraid to wake her.__

He comes back to his room and lies down in bed.  His eyes stayed open for a while longer though.  Why was she scared?  Why did she seem so upset when he said that to her earlier?  How come he was always so cold hearted?__

When Yuffie awoke the next morning, she heard a television on in another room.  She stretched then stood up out of the warm bed.  A cold breeze pushed over her legs causing her to shiver. 

"I must be insane."  She laughs, looking down at her shorts.  Then she walks out of the room into the short hallway.  Her eyes darted from door to door, picture to picture, his house wasn't quite like she'd thought it would be.  It was actually quite pretty and very clean...almost too clean.  Yuffie comes to a partially open door and stops. "Curiosity killed the cat..."  She tells herself while walking toward it.  "But I'm not a cat, am I?" Carefully, she pushes opens the door and steps inside.  The room was very dark, but it looked very similar to the one she had stayed in.  

"This must be Vinnie's room."  She whispers.  The large bed was the most attractive part of the large room.  It was shinning and clean. Yuffie walked over to it cautiously and ran her hand through the thin, shinning black cloth.  She could see strait through it to the black and red comforter it hid. Again, she starts to walk away, this time toward a large bookcase toward the back of the room.  There were so many books that some were piled up beside the large bookcase.

Vincent walks past his room, then notices that the door was open.  He'd closed it...right?  Carefully, he walks inside.  He saw Yuffie standing by the bookcase, looking over all the books.

"Why are you in my room?"  He questions.  Yuffie nearly jumps out of her skin.  She turns around and sighs.

"Vinnie."  She says, still shivering.  "I was just looking for you and I came in here cuz I thought it was your room and I thought that I might find you here."  She blabbers.  Vincent watches her fret then looks around his room.  Nothing looked out of place.  He shrugged then turned back from the room.

"If you want something to eat, I made breakfast."  He says, then walks out of the room.  Yuffie hurries out of the room.

"You cook too!?"  She jokes.  "What'd ya make?"  She questions while walking up beside him.  Vincent looks over at her and chuckles.

"Pancakes..."  He pauses.  "Would you like a sweater?"  He questions, when he notices her covered with goose bumps and shivering.  She had her arms wrapped around her body, hugging herself tightly.  Yuffie blushes and nods.

"Yeah."

Vincent walks back into his room, with Yuffie following close behind.  He opens his drawers and starts sorting through his clothes.  Yuffie expected to see a lot of black and red and that would be all.  She was surprised when she saw blues, greens and some other colors as well.  After searching for a shirt that he thought would fit her, Vincent hands Yuffie a dark blue sweatshirt.  It was something Yuffie never imagined that he would own.

"Thanks."  She says while throwing it on over her other clothes.  The shirt was still long on her and her shorts disappeared under its length.  She chuckled as she flopped her hands around, showing how much longer the arms were.  Vincent let a small smile show through his cold exterior.  Yuffie gasped and threw a hand over her mouth.  The sleeve hung down a few inches past her fingertips as she covered her mouth. "So Vinnie CAN smile."

Vincent turns and walks down the hall.  Yuffie hurries to catch up, still wide-eyed by his smile.  She reaches the kitchen and smells the sweet pancakes.  Hastily, Yuffie jumps into a seat and picks up her fork.  Vincent turns around with a plateful of pancakes and looks toward her.

"Hurry up and sit down so we can eat Vinnie!"  She blurts.  Vincent takes his seat at the table and stabs a few pancakes.  Yuffie gets five large pancakes and flops them on her plate.  She douses them with syrup then slices a large piece of them and stuffs it in her mouth.  Vincent shakes his head and carefully slices a piece out of his pancake and places it into his mouth.

Yuffie has her plate emptied before Vincent has half of his plate cleared.  She laughs then wipes her mouth.

"So proper."  She chuckles then stretches. "Ya know what?" Yuffie questions.

"Hm?"  Vincent questions, while taking a sip of his drink.

"That was the best meal I've had in two years."  She pats her stomach and smiles. "Thank you."

"Don't worry about it."  Vincent says while standing up to clear off the table.  He picks up his plate and grabs Yuffie's too. Yuffie plops down on the tile floor and smiles.  She flaps her arms and legs, like she was trying to make snow angels.  Vincent looks down at her and shakes his head.

"I'm making really-clean-floor-angels."  Yuffie laughs aloud, while continuing to move her arms and legs back and forth.  Vincent turns back to the dishwasher and places the dirty dishes inside of it.  He closes the door then turns back around to see Yuffie crawling on the ground wiping the floor with her index finger.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to find the dirty.  I think it's lost."  She giggles then stands up.  

Vincent sighs then walks out of the kitchen toward another room.  "Hey!  Wait up Mr. Grumpy." She hurries toward the path he'd just taken.  After opening two other doors, Yuffie finds the living room. Vincent was sitting on a red leather couch watching the news.

Yuffie walks inside and sighs.  She stands in the doorway for a moment, her shoulders hanging low and a look of boredom on her face. 

"Vinnie."  She questions.  He looks up at her calmly.  "Can we _please_ watch something interesting?"  She plops down on the loveseat.  It was the same red leather as the couch.  Vincent sighs.

"What would you like to watch?"  He questions calmly.  Yuffie puts her index finger to her bottom lip and looks to the ceiling.

"I don't know." 

Vincent sighs and turns back to the television for a moment.  He soon looks back at her, looking over her arm carefully.

"Is your arm feeling ok?"  He questions.  Yuffie looks down at it.

"It hurts a little bit."  She says casually.  Vincent walks over to her and kneels down beside her.

"Let me see it."  He holds out his hand.  Yuffie lets him take it then shudders.

"You're hand is freezing!"  She says when his fingertips touch her forearm. He ignores her, running his hand over the scrapes carefully.  Yuffie catches herself blushing. She fans it away with her free hand then sighs, feeling that it was gone.  Suddenly, Vincent picks his claw up off of his leg and stabs it into Yuffie's arm.

"OOOOWWWW!"  She yells.  Vincent holds her still, then pulls out a large rock.  He holds it up then places it on the ground.  Quickly, he took his bandana off his head and untied it.  His hair fell in his eyes as he tied it around her arm.

"This will do long enough for me to run and get a real bandage."  He dashes out of the room, his long black hair following him.  Yuffie looked down at her arm and frowned.  The blood was warm.  It wasn't flowing all that bad and the pain was dulling, but she wished that Vincent had given at least a little warning before he cut into her arm.  She smiles thinking back to the worried look that had come to his face when she screamed.  

Vincent comes back into the room with a bottle of disinfectant and a wad of bandage.  He drops down beside her and takes the deep red bandana off of her arm.  Yuffie flinches when she sees the bottle of antiseptic.

"Do you think you can just skip that?"  She questions.  Vincent looks up at her and shakes this head then he rubs in the disinfectant ointment.  Yuffie twitches and bites her lower lip holding in a squeal of pain.  "Ow!  Oh man.  That stuff burns!  Didn't you have anything that didn't sting as bad?"  She whines.  Vincent ignores her and quickly wraps her arm with the white bandage.  Sighing, he picks up the stone from of the floor and walks over to the garbage and tosses it in.

Yuffie frowns.  She stands up and stretches. Vincent looks over at her, almost smiling.  

"I think we need to get you some clothes."  He says monotonously.  Yuffie looks down to his sweater and smiles.

"What?  You don't think this looks good?"  She jokes while pulling the sleeves over her wrists.  Vincent shakes his head then walks out of the room.  Yuffie rolls her eyes, plopping down on the loveseat.  Her feet hung over the armrest and her head lying on the other.  "That's just him."  She looks over to the hallway and laughs.  "What am I supposed to do?  Read his mind?"  She yawns and pulls her hands over her head.

Vincent walks back inside and throws her a pair of sweatpants.  She picks them up then looks up at him. Yuffie hurries over beside him, a large smile upon her face.

"Um, Vinnie dear, are you expecting me to wear these?"  She holds them up to her waist.  Vincent turns around and sighs.  He nods then grabs a pair of shoes.  Yuffie bursts into laughter, but pulls them over her legs anyway.  She lets go of them and the fall to her ankles.  "I think they're a bit big."  She says while trying to subside her laughter.

"There's a drawstring." Vincent says bluntly.  Yuffie looks down and blushes.  She pulls them up and pulls the strings tightly, tying a tight knot in them.  

"I knew that."  She says, her face still flushed.  Vincent looks at her with an eyebrow raised.

"Uh-huh."  He says in return.  Yuffie puts her hands on her hips.

"You don't believe me?" She questions (the blush was gone now.)  Vincent shakes his head, a miniscule smile hidden the neck of his cloak.  "How rude!  To not believe a woman's words."  She jokes.  Vincent opens the door with a sigh.  "And I thought you were a gentleman."  Vincent holds open the door for her as she continues to fight the argument she already lost.  She walks out the door and wraps her arms around her body and shivers.  "Man!  It's really cold out here!"  Vincent looks over to her and sighs.

"Would you like to use my cloak?"  He questions.  Yuffie looks over at him and stands up strait.  Vincent starts to walk, so she quickly follows.

"If I took that, then you'd be cold."  She says defiantly.  Vincent unclasps the cloak and hands it to her.  Yuffie refuses to take it.

"I won't be cold, now just take it."

"No."  She keeps her arms crossed.

"Take it."  Vincent forces it into her face.

"No!" Yuffie pushes it back.

"You're freezing.  Now take it before I toss it on the ground."

"What would be the point in that?"  Yuffie argues, still refusing to take the cloak.  Vincent drops it and continues walking.  Yuffie sighs and runs back to get it.  She picks the red cloak up and feels it's warmth.  A smile came to her face as she takes in the comforting scent.  It was homey, something about it made her feel relaxed.  A tap came to Yuffie's shoulder, making her jump back to reality.

"Frozen?"  Vincent questions.

"No."  Yuffie sighs while standing up slowly.

"Then what kept you?"

"Looking for materia."  She says swiftly.  Vincent shakes his head and turns back around walking toward the city again.

"Why would I keep those anymore?"  He questions.  Yuffie makes a strange expression.

"Dunno.  Just thought I'd check."

Not too much later, they reach a small clothing store.  Vincent holds the door for Yuffie.  She walks inside and gasps. 

"Wow!"  She hurries over to a rack of clothes. "These are cool looking!"  She holds up a pair of green plaid pants.  "I've gotta try them on!"  Yuffie hurries to another rack, trying desperately to find a shirt that would match them.  In only seconds, she finds a cute black shirt and holds it up.  She shrugs then runs to the back changing rooms.  Vincent looks around at the wide arrange of clothing until Yuffie comes running back to him smiling.  "How's it look?"  She stands with her arms spread and slowly spins around.  Vincent looks her over, realizing how good she looked when she wore nice clothes.  He nodded.

"It looks nice."  He agrees.  Yuffie looks down at her stomach. 

"Does it show too much of my stomach?"  She questions.

"Compared to your last outfit…no."  

"What's that supposed to mean?"  She questions while walking over to another rack of clothes and picking up two more pairs of pants.  Yuffie then looks for some shirts to match.  Soon, she comes back with a pile of clothes.  Vincent raises and eyebrow.  "Two pairs of pants, two shirts, a hoodie and an overcoat."  She lists them off.  "Hold them while I change out of this."  She says.  Vincent sighs as she dashes to change back into the baggy clothing she had on before.  Again, she comes back up to him, handing him the pants and shirt she'd been wearing before.

"Can…oh man this is queer."  She says while looking to the ground. Suddenly, she looks back up.  "Give me ten dollars!"  Yuffie holds out her hand and smiles.  Vincent looks down at her with his eyes closed, almost completely.  He puts the clothes onto a nearby counter, not having moved from the front of the store.  With a sigh, he pulls out ten dollars and hands it to her.  "Thank you.  Meet you outside the store."  She runs off in another direction.  Vincent shrugs then picks up the clothes again.

Minutes later, they meet at the store's entrance.  Yuffie was holding a small bag of her own.  Vincent looks down at it then hands her the other two bags.  She frowns but reluctantly grabs them, stuffing the other bag into one of the others. They walk down the street in utter silence.  At last Yuffie sighs.

"It's too quiet. I don't like it!  So now I'm gonna talk to myself because you never say anything but, "sure," "maybe," "yes," "no," or little sentences."  She throws the sentence out quickly through the silent street.  Vincent walks up to his door and opens it, again holding the door for her as she walked up, holding two large bags.  As she goes to her new room to put the clothes away, Vincent picks up the phone.

"Hello.  This is Tifa's 7th Heaven.  How may I help you?"

"Tifa."

"Vincent!  How are you?"

"Fine."

"What's goin' on?"

"Can I come by today?"

"Of course.  Should I have a room ready?"  She questions while filling a glass.  "There you go." Tifa says while handing the glass to a patient man.

"Yeah." 

"What brings you on this freezing cold day?"

"Yuffie."

"What about her."

"We kinda ran into each other a couple days ago."

"Ok.  Does that mean you need two rooms?"

"Yeah."

"Alright.  Well, I guess I will see you later!"

"Bye."

"See-" She tries to say goodbye, but Vincent has already hung up the phone.  Typical Vincent.  She would be offended if it was anyone else, but Vincent was different.  He was never very talkative, so she didn't take it offensively.

Yuffie walks back into the room to see that Vincent was hanging up the phone.

"I didn't hear the phone ring, that must mean you called someone."  She pauses, giving him a sly smile.  "Do you have a girlfriend?"  She questions innocently.

"No."  Vincent says coldly.  He walks over to the closet and pulls out a jacket.  Yuffie flinches at the icy tone in his voice.

"Ok.  I was just thinkin' maybe you took a different turn and stopped sulking over Lucrecia."  She sighs, knowing that she really hadn't *thought* he'd changed…just hoped. 

Vincent sighs then looks to the ground.  He throws the coat to Yuffie, who uses her quick reflexes to catch it.

"I thought you would like to go visit Cloud and Tifa."  He says.  Then he turns away and walks out the door.  Yuffie snorts and bobs her head, as if mocking him.  When she walks outside, she hears a car roar to life. 

"Nice!"  She says while walking over to Vincent's large red SUV. Yuffie opens the door and hops inside.  The trip there was silent…if you erased Yuffie singing at the top of her lungs every time a "good song" came on the radio.  Vincent was completely silent, plus he never even took his eyes from the road even as Yuffie had the radio blaring and practically screamed the songs.  It actually began to worry Yuffie.

As they came to the small, welcoming bar, known as _Tifa's 7th Heaven,_ Yuffie actually turned to ask Vincent if anything was wrong.

"Hey…Vinnie-" She tries.

"That's not my name."  He says while walking through the door.  They were greeted with large open arms from both Tifa and Cloud.  Yuffie was very glad to see them; it nearly brought her to tears (the fact that they gave her a bag full of materia had _nothing_ to do with it.)  Vincent soon walked into the living room with Cloud, leaving Yuffie and Tifa alone. 

"So, how exactly did you and Vincent find each other?" Tifa questions obviously wanting more details.

"Destiny." Yuffie jokes.  Tifa puts her hands on her hips.  "Ok, ok.  I literally ran into him." She states.

"So, you ran into him a few nights ago?"

"Yep."

Vincent and Cloud on the other hand sit in silence.  Cloud stands up and looks back to the bar part of _Tifa's 7th Heaven_.  He eyes the changes in Yuffie with a smile.  With a smile upon his face, Cloud turns back to Vincent, who is merely gazing out the window at the deep purple sky.

"Well, dunno how you saw it two years ago, but Yuffie has definitely turned out to be quite a charm."  He says slyly.  Vincent looks up at him, no expression upon his pale face.

"What do you mean?"

"You've always had a thing for her…haven't you?" Cloud questions.  Vincent looks to the ground.  He sighs. _~"Do you have a girlfriend?"  "No."  "Ok.  I was just thinkin' maybe you took a different turn and stopped sulking over Lucrecia."_

"No." Vincent replies very suddenly and very defiantly.  Cloud actually jumps at the harshness in his voice.  "She's so selfish…and childish."  He says icily. Cloud swallows a lump and suddenly formed in his throat.

"Sorry.  You just seemed like you did."

Tifa offers Yuffie a seat then takes one herself.  She looks to Yuffie with a smile.

"So what do you really think of Vincent?"  She questions.  Yuffie blushes, but manages to smile and play cool.

"He's too darn emo!"  She says.

"Beside that."

"…" Yuffie zones off, remembering _those_ eyes, remembering _that_ beautiful hair, and _that_ wonderful smile.  "He's ok."  Right then Vincent and Cloud walk into the room to get something to drink.  Vincent glares at Yuffie but she doesn't see it.  Cloud gives Tifa a look and motions to the other room.  She follows, knowing instantly that something was up.  Once, in a nearby room Cloud closes the door.

"Something's up."  He says.

"I noticed…what is it?"  

"Vincent seems like he's on his last mental string."

"…"

"Something got to him.  I don't know what it was, but something got to him."

Tifa leans up against a little table and sighs. 

"Well doesn't that just ruin everything?"

Yuffie sits at the table, looking into the grooves of the older table.  She carefully traced it with her fingers.  Vincent watches her and nearly growls.  He was angry…very angry…and it was her fault.  How dare she say something like that to him?!  At last, Yuffie looks up to see Vincent's you're-gonna-die look.

"Did I do something?"  She questions innocently, truthfully not realizing that she had done anything.

"Did you do something?"  Vincent starts.  "Did you do something?!" He slams his hand down on the counter.  "Hell yes you did something!"  He shouts viciously.  Tifa walks out of the other room with Cloud trailing close behind.  The two of them watch from a distance, trying to understand what was going on.  Vincent walks over to the frightened Yuffie.

"What did I do?"  She questions.

"You put your nose where it doesn't belong!" He shouts.

"What do you mean?!"  Yuffie snaps.  She despised being yelled at…she'd had enough of it from her father and Cid.

"Asking me if I had a girlfriend…telling me to stop sulking over Lucrecia!  All of this was my choice.  You have NO right to intrude on my choices."

"I feel like I should.  You're my friend and I don't like seeing you sulk and hurt yourself over things that aren't your fault!"  She shouts, standing up at last.  Yuffie was unable to sit, unable to stand still; she was unable to do anything besides be irate.

"HOW IS LUCRECIA'S DEATH NOT MY FAULT!!" Vincent roars at last.   This was by far his most sensitive subject.                                                                        

"She had already put her life away into that project!  You've said so yourself so many times!  You tried to stop her but it didn't work!  You gave her happiness!"

"But I also gave her death!"

"NO YOU DIDN'T!"

"Then you explain it."  Vincent growls.  Yuffie sighs, trying hard to calm herself.

"She had told herself-even before you came along-that she would probably DIE for this project.  When you came along, she started to tell herself that maybe she didn't want to die anymore.  YOU gave her HAPPINESS!  YOU let her know what it was like to be LOVED!  Plus, what's to say that if you had done what she asked, that the results wouldn't have been exactly the same?  There is no way to know that!"  Yuffie shouted at the top of her lungs, the anger only projecting it twice as much.  Vincent actually found himself taking steps backwards as she walked toward him.

"But I know-" Vincent starts.

"You don't know anything!  It's only your sorrow eating away at your reason.  Everything that's ever gone wrong in your life…everything that you COULD NEVER HAVE CHANGED is your fault!  That's all you think and that's all you'll EVER THINK!!" She shouts.  Vincent finds himself unable to think of a comeback.  Yuffie had won the argument that he never thought he would lose.  Yuffie had beaten him; she had overpowered and scared him.  A girl that scarcely reached his shoulders had intimidated him.  She completely beat him at his own game.

Yuffie turns to the door.  She grabs her coat and throws it over her shoulders.  Vincent grabs her arm.

"Where are you going?"  He says, the icy tone still in his voice.

"Why should it matter?!  It doesn't even matter that I care about you, so why should it matter where I'm going?!" She pulls her arm out of his grip and slams the door behind her.

Vincent found himself speechless.  Again.  Just another harsh memory to add to his never-ending list.  He stares at the ground realizing how much of an idiot he truly was.  She was only trying to help him…she cared about him; and what did he do?  He yelled at her until she left, so close to tears that you could hear it through her angry shouts.  

Meanwhile, Yuffie walked outside in the harsh winds.  Her short brown hair was whipping around.  It thrashed against her ears and cheeks.    She was freezing but it didn't matter, the warm tears were falling and the anger was keeping her mind away from the cold.  Violently, Yuffie slaps away the tears, crying was a sign of being weak.

"Why does he always have to be so stupid?"  She questions herself while wiping away new tears.  "He's always so cold.  It's no wonder that he can't get a girlfriend anymore, he's just so dang cold."  She sighs and wipes away more tears.  "Stupid hormones."  

She walks down the sidewalk and comes to a bench.  It was wet from the rain that had begun to fall merely minutes ago but that didn't matter to her right now.  Yuffie sits down and wipes away tears with her wrists.

"I wish he could just see how much I actually care for him."

Cloud and Tifa walk into the bar only minutes after the vicious argument.  Tifa is the one to risk talking to him.

"Vincent?"  She places her hand on his shoulder. He bats it away, accidentally cutting her with the sharp tips of his golden claw.  Tifa gasped and gripped her hand tightly.  Cloud ran out of the room to get her a bandage.  Vincent made a tight fist.

"I'm sorry Tifa…I didn't mean to cut you."  He says with a tone of absolute misery in his voice.  Cloud runs back in the room and quickly wraps it up.

"I know.  It's ok…Why didn't you tell me that you two weren't getting along?"  She replies.  Vincent flinches as if she tried to punch him.

"I didn't tell you because…" He trails off. "She didn't even know."  He walks toward the door and pulls it open.  Tifa touches his shoulder again. 

"Be careful.  It's cold out there."  She says, a looks of utter sadness in her eyes.  Vincent nods then is out the door and on his way.  He needed to find Yuffie and apologize…he really needed to apologize.  But he didn't know what way she went and he didn't know how fast she went. The best way to find her though was not standing around thinking…it was going and moving.  He searches the streets, alleys and sidewalks two ways and finds nothing.  At last he begins to walk another way.  Using his amazing sight, he sees a dark blurry figure on a bench in front of a cemetery.  The rain was falling in his eyes, as though the tears of the angels were trying to torture him for all he's done.

In only minutes he has reached the form and it is, in fact, Yuffie.  She was huddled in a small ball on the bench.  Vincent picks her up and hurries back to the bar.  His arms were half frozen from carrying her, but that just meant that it was worse for her.   As he reached the bar he called for Tifa's help and the soon had Yuffie wrapped up and warm, so he left to go sit alone for a while.

Vincent had gone to one of Tifa's empty rooms.  He was lying in a small bed in the pitch-blackness of post-midnight hours.  Tears were daring to tip over his partially closed eyelids.  Quietly and in the discomfort of his own company he was praying…praying to Lucrecia.

"Please Lucrecia…let me know what to do."  He pauses, trying to clear his throat.  "My sorrow, my agony…please just send me a sign, let me know what you want for me."

"Hey Vinnie."

As the timid Yuffie crept into the room, Vincent smiled as a lifelong weight just left his chest.  This was enough for him to understand that Lucrecia had given him her forgiveness.  He sat up and looked over toward her, debating whether or not to smile.  

"What is it?"  Vincent questions quietly.  Yuffie pulls her hand up to her mouth and looks to the ground.

"I wanted to apologize.  It isn't my business to tell you what to do…" She pauses.  "But I still can't believe you do that to yourself!  Why would you force yourself to believe that…that it was all your fault?!"  She pauses again. "You're not going back to that hellhole coffin are you?"  She questions.

"No."  Vincent replies quietly.

"Can you please just not go…you're not going back?"  She says realizing that he had indeed replied.

"I never said I was going back."

"So you'll stay with us?"  She pauses. "With me?" Vincent freezes, still finding the words hard to speak.  Yuffie suddenly runs toward him and throws her arms around his abdomen.  A slight blush comes to Vincent's face accompanied by a large smile.  He holds her, amazed at how warm she was.  

"I…will stay." Vincent replies at last.  "I will stay with you."  Yuffie squeezes harder and cuddles up into his warmth.  Near sleep, Yuffie turned her head up and tiredly looked at Vincent, whose glowing crimson eyes were still wide open looking down at her.

"So…Vinnie."  She starts.  Vincent looks down at her.  

"What?"

"Do _you_ have a _girlfriend?_"  Yuffie questions jokingly.  Vincent looks down at the near-sleeping girl in front of him and can't help but smile.  As he leans down and kisses her forehead, a quiet but joking reply came to Yuffie's ears.

"Let me think about it."


End file.
